Chapter 18. The knowledge

The child was quarantined by Ni-nu, – the lady ambassador's secretary, I believe. At least that was how he introduced himself.

The ambassador gave him a call through her techy something (looked like a tea plate, by the way) and he came with another techy stuff (that one looked like a briefcase, but then Ni-nu opened it and it became a big cube) and put the child in there.

Then we all got to the decontamination zone to kill off the White Crown's spores. So I was right, these things were fungi.

First, our costumes were bathed in a fire potion of some sort, with us inside (we practically burned for several minutes), and then we went into some kind of chamber one by one (I guessed that higher-ups already did this procedure, because... well, they had no suits anyway). Inside that chamber we were ordered to take off all of our clothes, put it in a compartment in there and just... stand. Ah, yes, we did put on glasses, and were said to close the eyes and not to open them "just in case". After the chamber, we simply went to take a bath.

After being fully decontaminated and fully clothed, I went to see if I could be allowed near the quarantine zone to see the child.

Ni-nu was there, and Ha-na was inside the cube.

"Ehm, how do I address you? I mean... properly?" I asked Ni-nu, who was standing there recording reports I assume.

"Oh, you... Who are you anyway?" He asked me, his face buried in monitors (is that what they call it?) flying around.

"Me?! I'm just a servant here. But I found the child."

"Name?"

"Tamara?" Said I, questioning myself for some reason.

"Full name?"

"Tamara Freeman."

"Mhm."

And he shut down. I stood there, waiting for something to happen for a minute or so, and only I decided to ask again, Ni-nu opened his mouth:

"The ambassador is trying to stop the spread inside the child's body. If you ask me I think they are most likely to die. The child I mean."

"Wait, what?! Why? Is it that bad?"

"Yeah, it's a miracle they are still alive. Or it's just a strong and healthy body... But anyway."

"We don't even know who they are..."

"Well, they were lying in the dirt in some forest, alone... I don't think someone is actually looking for them." He closed all of the monitors and finally turned to me. "And you can just call me Ni-nu, it's already proper."

"Oh. I thought it was just your name."

"The first part - yes, it is a part of my given name. The second one is a postfix, which means my place in a hierarchy. Something like a title, in your language."

"Hm, so 'na' is a postfix too?"

"Yeah. You can translate 'na' as a 'powerwelder', and 'nu' as a 'powerbuilder'."

"Will I be 'nu'?"

"You will be 'ko'."

"Which means...?"

"Slave."

"Oh... Well... Thank you for a lesson in your language, I guess."

"In one of our languages. In our international language."

"Yeah, sorry..."

"You shouldn't be. You are merely a 'ko' after all."

"You know the King is paying me for my work..."

"Oh, it's not about paying, it's about meaning something in a hierarchy. 'Ko' are meaningless."

"Why?"

"You see? You are definitely a 'ko'!"

"Care to elaborate on the topic?"

"You are not bright, are you? Good looks aren't there either. Well, maybe you are considered beautiful among your people, though... You are not healthy too, I mean you are wearing glasses. What about any talent? Huh, I don't think so. People like you... How can you contribute...?"

"Oh, that's what you've meant... Nah, I am considered average at best. So you're right I am just... well... a servant."

"Don't be sad, it's not your fault. You were born like that."

"Yeah, thanks."

***

We were observing the quarantine cube and talking. I learned Ni-nu's full given name, Nititorn, and that he wasn't supposed to disclose it, because we weren't close enough for him to do so. But I was a 'ko', which was a polite way to say 'stupid', so he kindly explained everything to me.

He also spilled the beans that if the child survive there would be two human foreseers. Which meant that for now there was only one - our King... Which meant he was infected too and then became a foreseer...? Well, Nititorn, I appreciate your inside knowledge and your love to talk a lot.

In the middle of our conversation regarding starlings' love for mushroom eating (no, it's not cannibalism), the ambassador left the cube and came to us.

I staggered back on her approach.

She giggled:

"There is a decontamination chamber inside the cube. I'm clean."

"Well, who knows..."

She smiled and my boy Nititorn looked at her as if she did something scandalous.

"You will be happy to know that the child... the boy is stable."

"They are?! That's wonderful!"

"Yes, that is. I think he will awake in a span of a few weeks. He is exhausted."

I looked at the cube filled with hope.